Celtic's Tony Mowbray has promised to acquire better quality players in
January, even if it costs millions to do so.

Mowbray said prior to Thursday’s 1-0 home defeat by Hamburg that if he had to replace 10 players he would do so and yesterday he returned to the theme, armed with more proof that his existing squad is well short of the standard he seeks, although he moderated his earlier vision of a potential wholesale clear-out. “It’s right for me to want to improve the team and improve the players so that three years down the line, when we go to Old Trafford, they are worried, they are concerned,” he said.

“We can sit here and wait with bated breath for January but January can come and go and nothing can happen – it depends on the availability of footballers. Players might not be available or affordable. The board have been very supportive and we have a very good working relationship. They are looking for value and if the right player comes along then I think we will be in the market, whether it’s a free transfer or whether that player costs a few millions pounds.

“All I’m trying to get across is that there is a desire to improve our playing squad. It can happen out on the training ground or it can happen from bringing new players in. Every club strives to improve. Can we afford not to bring anyone in? It depends what your objectives are, but this group of players are more than capable of winning the title.

“If you were at Ibrox two or three weeks ago, I don’t think we came away from the game thinking we have a long way to go, I think we came away thinking we were hard done by. We could have won and maybe deserved to win.

“Are we short on quality regarding the rest of the SPL? I don’t think so. However, as regards the players who are here and who might come in, I was a professional footballer and I like to think that any professional footballer would think that if somebody is going out that door, it won’t be him.” Celtic, who have won a grand total of two of their eight competitive home games to date, in all competitions, may find it something of a relief to travel to Hamilton tomorrow, especially since both Marc-Antoine Fortune and Danny Fox are back in the squad and are likely starters.

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Mowbray was the recipient of an expression of genuine praise from the Accies boss, Billy Reid, who said that despite Celtic’s patchy start to the season, the Parkhead manager would turn the club’s fortunes around. “I thought some of the stick Gordon Strachan got was totally unjust – I thought the guy did a fantastic job – and now Tony Mowbray has come into the job and his team plays slightly differently from Gordon’s.

“I think he will take time to bed things in,” said Reid. “But that’s the way he sets his team out to play and I don’t think he will change for anybody. Tony Mowbray is a fantastic person and he’s a good manager and he will get it right – I guarantee that.

“Both Celtic and Rangers are fighting on two fronts this season in terms of Europe and the league. Their squads aren’t as big as they used to be when they were able to rotate a little bit. The same players have to play for them every week and it’s quite hard to do that on both fronts. I think that’s got a bearing on it on how the two teams have performed in Europe.

“No disrespect to either of them but they’ve probably not got the strength and depth and quality they have had in previous seasons and that has been a factor. However, they’ve got better players than we’ve got and that’s no disrespect to our players. That is always going to be the case and we are heavy underdogs this weekend but we’re fairly confident we can cause a surprise, especially in a home game.”

Hamilton themselves have found the SPL a tougher prospect in the absence of players who were sold in the summer, so it is with considerable relief that they will greet the return of their combative captain and midfield organiser, Alex Neil, although it seems that he is not sufficiently match fit to face Celtic.

Reid said: “Alex trained this week. The game may be a bit soon for him but he may feature in the squad. Even this week, having him training for the first time this season has been great. A lot of the new players don’t even know Alex Neil on the park and he has certainly made an impression. He is a big, big player for us.”

Back at Celtic, the implications of Thursday’s Europa League defeat by Hamburg still echoed. Aiden McGeady, who found the experience frustrating, said: “As far as the Europa League group is concerned, it’s never over till it’s over but we need to win our three remaining games to be sure of going through to the next stage of the competition, which is much easier said than done.

“We might have lost to the side I consider to be the best in our group but it’s still a bitter disappointment. We were a bit better than we have been in recent weeks and no one could say the desire and commitment weren’t there on the night.

“But we didn’t take any of our opportunities – not half chances, not anything that came our way. We’re Celtic and we should be better than that and we certainly hope that we can put ourselves back on the right track at Hamilton, although experience tells us it will be a lively game for us.”